St. Thomas police say they suspect foul play in the
disappearance of missing infant Abbygail Dice and
yesterday named her mother a suspect.

The development comes more than five weeks after
the month-old baby's mother, Sara Whittington, was
found alone and disoriented inside her locked
Confederation Drive apartment on Sept. 20.

Abbygail was nowhere to be found.

"(Whittington) is now a suspect and she is the
only suspect," Const. Anders Nielsen said yesterday.

The change in Whittington's status from "person
of interest" to "suspect" follows an interview with
police for several hours Friday at London police
headquarters with her lawyer, Bill Glover, present.

"We are extremely disappointed that, in the face
of Sara's co-operation, the police have upgraded
without notice to Sara, her status in this
investigation," Glover said in a statement.

"Sara has consistently told the police that she
does not know what happened to Abby or what her
involvement might be.

"To the extent allowed by Sara's medical and
emotional state, she has always co-operated with the
police, she has spoken extensively to the media, she
has walked with the community and at her own expense
she has hired us as investigators to assist and
co-operate with the police in the search for
Abbygail."

Nielsen said there aren't any restrictions on
Whittington's travels.

"We don't have the authority to enforce anything
like that," Nielsen said. "She's free to go wherever
she wants."

Police are again asking the public for help to
determine Whittington's whereabouts between 6 p.m.
and 9 p.m. on Sept. 18.

"What really seems to be a concern (to
investigators) is those three hours and her
movements," Nielsen said. "We want to know what
(Whittington) was doing during that time."

The last time mother and daughter were seen
together was about 2:30 p.m. Sept. 18.

Nielsen said police have accounted for the hours
up to 6 p.m.

On Oct. 4, police released video of Whittington
shopping in a St. Thomas drugstore at 9 p.m. on
Sept. 18. The baby was not with Whittington in the
store.